NETONE, Zimbabwe’s first and State-owned mobile telecommunications company, launched its 20th year celebrations at the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair on Wednesday.
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking at the launch, acting chief executive officer Brian Mutandiro said the organisation was gearing itself to reclaim its pinnacle position in the sector.
“We have come a long way as NetOne. Our organisation started off with a mere 500 subscribers in 1996, but today, we stand tall with a subscriber base of over 4,2 million,” he said.
“We envisage to hit the eight million mark by 2017 and this is quite realistic. What impresses me most is the team I am leading and the energy it exudes all the time. With such a unit, any goal is within reach.”
NetOne was established on the sidelines of the World Solar Summit in 1996 and is currently the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the country.
Mutandiro said to achieve their goal, the organisation had to remain innovative and think outside the box to beat competition.
“Innovation and customer centricity shall be central to our operations going into the future. We were the first mobile telecommunications company to introduce mobile money transfer services when we launched One Wallet in 2011,” he said.
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“Many other new platforms were introduced as we continued to be innovative. This year, numerous other packages, which I cannot announce at this juncture, will be in the offing.”
Major celebrations to mark NetOne’s two decades anniversary are slated for September.
Meanwhile, NetOne on Thursday donated mealie meal to nearly 2 000 households in Insiza South, one of the areas hardest hit by the current drought.
Each household in wards 6 and 7 received a 10kg packet of the staple food, a gesture described by the constituency’s legislator Malachi Nkomo, as one that resonated with ZimAsset.
“Poverty alleviation is the responsibility of us all as a nation. Villagers of this constituency virtually harvested nothing this year and the situation is pathetic. It requires concerted efforts from anyone who can assist and friends like NetOne have definitely chipped in at the right time. Our loyalty to this brand will become unquestionable,” he said.
Mutandiro said the telecoms company would continue assisting communities in dire need whenever possible.
“As NetOne, we do not just milk our customers and abandon them in their hour of need. We are cognisant of the devastating effects of this drought and also more importantly to us, the loyalty of the people of this constituency to our brand. NetOne is a network for the people and it provides the widest coverage in our country, our footprints are all over.”
